1 PETER LESSON 2


     We will begin this lesson by repeating the last verse of the last
lesson. I Peter 1:7 "That the trial of your faith, being much more
precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire,
might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of
Jesus Christ:"

     At the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, we will hear Him say,
well done thy good and faithful servant, or get away from me I never
knew you. If the fiery trials of this earth make us more strong in the
Lord, we will be counted faithful. We will inherit eternal life. If,
on the other hand, we are found unfaithful to Him, we will spend
eternity in hell.

     I Peter 1:8 "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now
ye see [him] not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and
full of glory:"

     Jesus says that those who believe, who have not seen, are greatly
blessed.  John 20:29 "Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast
seen me, thou hast believed: blessed [are] they that have not seen,
and [yet] have believed."  This is speaking of true faith. Abraham
believed, and it was counted unto him as righteousness. When we have
faith like Abraham, we are counted righteous in God's sight, as well.
Galatians 3:29 "And if ye [be] Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed,
and heirs according to the promise."  It is our faith in Jesus Christ
that saves us.

     I Peter 1:9 "Receiving the end of your faith, [even] the
salvation of [your] souls."

     This is just saying that the reward for believing is salvation in
Jesus Christ.

     I Peter 1:10 "Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and
searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace [that should come]
unto you:"

     The prophets of old could prophesy about this salvation in Jesus,
but they had no first-hand knowledge. Matthew 13:17 "For verily I say
unto you, That many prophets and righteous [men] have desired to see
[those things] which ye see, and have not seen [them]; and to hear
[those things] which ye hear, and have not heard [them]."  We know
they were aware that they were to happen in the future, but they did
not have the opportunity of seeing Jesus, because He had not come.
They believed that it would happen, as we see in the following verse.
Zechariah 6:12 "And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of
hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name [is] The BRANCH; and he shall
grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:"
All of the true prophets of old told similar things. They knew that He
would come, and they hoped for His coming, but He did not come in
their lifetimes.
     I Peter 1:11 "Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit
of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand
the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow."

     This is saying that the Spirit of Christ dwelt within these
prophets. "Signify", in the verse above, means to make plain or real.
They had visions from God that revealed to them the things that would
occur at a later date. God revealed to them about the Messiah {Jesus
Christ}. They knew of his birth, life, ministry, death of His flesh,
and of His resurrection. They knew it, because God had revealed it to
them.

     I Peter 1:12 "Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto
themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now
reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with
the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire
to look into."

     The prophet's ministry is not just for his generation of people.
Prophecy is given to make known unto all generations the wisdom of
God. Even the angels, in heaven, do not know the things revealed to
these prophets through the Holy Ghost of God.

     I Peter 1:13 "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober,
and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at
the revelation of Jesus Christ;"

     "To gird up the loins of your mind", means they would not allow
their mind to wander. God is saying, through Peter, do not let your
mind run stray. Keep your thoughts closeon the things of God. "Sober",
here, means to not be fickle. Be serious about the things of God. We
must love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. We must guard
against worldly thoughts. We must walk in the grace the Lord has
provided for us. We must be still walking the path of righteousness
even up until the moment the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed to us.

     I Peter 1:14 "As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves
according to the former lusts in your ignorance:"

     We read in the book of Samuel that to obey is better than
sacrifice. The Father wants His children to be obedient to our Saviour
Jesus. In fact, He must be our Lord, as well as our Saviour. We must
crucify our flesh and its desires, and live a life separated unto the
Lord. Lust of the flesh is not for the believer in Christ. We should
overcome the lust of the flesh and live for Jesus.

     I Peter 1:15 "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye
holy in all manner of conversation;"

     Cursing and blasphemy is not the conversation of the godly. Our
conversation reveals what we are in our heart. Christianity is of the
heart. Out of the issue of the heart, the mouth speaketh.

     I Peter 1:16 "Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy."
     Christians are to be Christ-like. If we are like Christ, we
should be holy, because He is holy.

     I Peter 1:17 "And if ye call on the Father, who without respect
of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of
your sojourning [here] in fear:"

     Fear of the Father is showing great respect. If we are judging
others, we are saying, we are judge. God is no respecter of persons.
To be like Him we must not be a respecter of persons either. Jesus is
the Judge of all the earth, who judges the works whether they be of
God, or not. We should spend our time on this earth doing good.

     I Peter 1:18 "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with
corruptible things, [as] silver and gold, from your vain conversation
[received] by tradition from your fathers;"

     Silver and gold are of the earth. All things of the earth are not
thought of as being godly. It is really the improper use of silver and
gold that is corruptible. Mankind's desire for excess gold and silver
has made sin out of it. The father, spoken of in the verse above, is
speaking of earthly fathers. This is saying, most earthly fathers
teach their children that holding gold and silver is very important.
The tradition of men is to get great wealth, if possible. God teaches
being humble and loving to your fellow man. Gold or silver cannot save
us from the wrath of God. Gold or silver cannot redeem our souls.

     I Peter 1:19 "But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot:"

     Only the blood of the Lamb of God can do away with sin. The blood
of man is not without sin and could not do away with sin. Jesus Christ
was God manifest in the flesh. The blood of a child comes from his
father. God the Holy Spirit, hovered over Mary, and she conceived of
God. God was the Father of Jesus Christ. It was the blood of sinless
God that paid the price for sin. Hebrews 10:4 "For [it is] not
possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins."
We see from the Scripture above, that animal's blood could not do away
with sin either, even if it were the animal sacrifice for the sin. The
blood of an animal could cover the sin for a year. It did not clear
the conscience of the sinner, nor do away with his sin. The blood of
Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb of God, was pure. Only the blood of God
manifest in the flesh of man can do away with sin. The blood of Jesus
abolished sin for all who believe in Him.

     I Peter 1:20 "Who verily was foreordained before the foundation
of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,"

     The plan of salvation was planned from the foundation of the
world. Jesus Christ was the one to do this, because we are His
creation. Jesus was known as the Word of God in heaven. He was made
real to us, when He took on the form of flesh and dwelt among us.
"Manifest", means made real.

     I Peter 1:21 "Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up
from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be
in God."

     Jesus paid the penalty for sin for all mankind on the cross.
I Timothy 4:10 "For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach,
because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men,
specially of those that believe."  Salvation is provided for all, but
not all receive the salvation He has provided. Simple faith in Jesus
as our Saviour and believing He rose from the grave brings salvation.
For some, this is too simple and they do not believe. His atonement
for our sin brings us forgiveness, His resurrection from the grave
brings us hope of eternal life. Our faith in Jesus Christ justifies us
before the Father.

     I Peter 1:22 "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the
truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, [see
that ye] love one another with a pure heart fervently:"

     Purified, in the verse above means consecrated to God's service.
This means then that we have changed into an obedient servant to do
the will of God. The Holy Spirit teaches us all Truth. If we truly
love God, we will love his children. The only way we can show love to
God is by showing love to His children here on earth. This is not an
outward love for show, but a true love from the heart.

     I Peter 1:23 "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."

     The new birth mentioned here, is a birth of the spirit man. The
old flesh man must be buried and the new spirit man takes his place.
We bury that man of flesh in water baptism and rise a new creature in
Christ. The next 2 Scriptures can say it better than I can. John 1:13
"Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God."  John 3:6 "That which is born of the
flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."  Our
spirit is born in Jesus Christ {the Word of God}.

     I Peter 1:24 "For all flesh [is] as grass, and all the glory of
man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower
thereof falleth away:"

     Life is like the grass mentioned here. It is here and all of a
sudden it is gone. The flesh of man will return to the earth from
which it came. It is the spirit of man that lives on.

     I Peter 1:25 "But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And
this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you."

     The Word of God is eternal. Jesus is the Word of God. The Word of
God is also the Bible. The spoken and the written Word of God are the
most powerful forces on the earth. The Word is Eternal. The gospel of
Jesus Christ is the focal point of the Bible. This Word of God that is
preached is the power unto salvation.
                          1 Peter 2 Questions


1.  The trial of our faith is compared to what in verse 7?
2.  What are the two things possible for us to hear, when we stand
    before the Lord?
3.  Quote John chapter 20 verse 29.
4.  Abraham ___________, and it was counted unto him as righteousness.
5.  Quote Galatians chapter 3 verse 29.
6.  What is the end of your faith?
7.  Who does verse 10 say searched diligently for salvation?
8.  Who is the Branch?
9.  What is verse 11 saying?
10. Who is Messiah?
11. Why did the prophets of old know of Jesus, before He came to
    earth?
12. What is prophecy for?
13. What does "gird up the loins of your mind" mean?
14. What does "sober" in verse 13 mean?
15. What are the Christians called in verse 14?
16. What book in the Bible tells us "to obey is better than
    sacrifice"?
17. What does our conversation reveal about us?
18. Quote 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 16.
19. How does the Father judge?
20. We should spend our time on this earth _________ ______.
21. What are silver and gold called in verse 18?
22. Why are they called corruptible?
23. What are we redeemed by?
24. What lets us know that Jesus was not just a man?
25. Quote Hebrews chapter 10 verse 4.
26. What was the only thing the blood of the animal could do?
27. The blood of Jesus abolished sin for whom?
28. When was it decided that the blood of Jesus would abolish sin for
    the believers?
29. Why was Jesus chosen for the sacrifice?
30. What does "manifest" mean?
31. Quote 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 10.
32. What brings salvation?
33. See that ye love one another with a pure heart ____________.
34. Being born again by the _______ of ____.
35. What is flesh compared to in verse 24?
36. The Word of the Lord endureth ___________.
37. Who is the Word?
38. What is the Word?